In today’s episode Kevin Miller joins us to share his story of going from buying businesses that were on growth trajectories and seeing them falter to 3Xing his current business and putting it into a 10x trajectory on top of that.
We cover the 5 part framework that enabled him to find more business success, but also what allowed him to show up in a better way for his girlfriend, family and most importantly himself.
Topics covered:
- His unique process to make things that used to seem really hard less difficult.
- The difference between people who don’t like where they are vs. those who are willing to do something about it
- What gave him permission to change and to get help
- The “Bacon people”
- Creating an environment where the baseline is higher than your old peak
To connect with Kevin:
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Get the complete nothing held back Emotional Fortitude micro course: https://Itamarmarani.com/course
Sign up for “3 Quick Ideas Tuesday” (weekly 2 minute newsletter around mindset and emotional fortitude): https://itamarmarani.com/3ideas
00:00:00:06 - 00:00:21:14
Itamar Marani
In today's episode, we have Kevin Miller joining us to share his story of going from big businesses that were on growth trajectories but then seeing them falter, the three exiting his current business and putting it into a ten growth trajectory. We cover the five part framework that enabled him to find more business success, but also what allowed him to show up in a better way for his girlfriend, for his friends, and most importantly, for himself.
00:00:21:16 - 00:00:39:16
Itamar Marani
The topics recovered were one his unique process to make things that used to seem really difficult, much less which was a very insightful and a unique perspective that I never thought about the difference between people who don't like where they are versus the people that actually willing to do something about it. What gave him permission to change and actually get help?
00:00:39:18 - 00:00:55:07
Itamar Marani
Finally, we also talked about the bacon people, as you call them, and how you can create an environment where the baseline is higher than your old piece. It was a really impactful episode filled with gems and golden nuggets. And I really want to say thank you again for Kevin for doing it. A lot of lessons learned. Hope you enjoy it.
00:00:55:09 - 00:01:10:22
Itamar Marani
Welcome to today's podcast, everyone. Today, we have Kevin Miller joining us. We're going to be walking through basically his case study of saying why he went from where he was to where he is right now and breaking down all the valuable and tangible lessons on how you can achieve that as well if your where you want. So in order to get us kicking off, first off.
00:01:10:23 - 00:01:13:08
Itamar Marani
Kevin, welcome. Thank you for being here. Appreciate it.
00:01:13:10 - 00:01:14:23
Kevin Miller
Yeah. Thank you.
00:01:15:01 - 00:01:20:03
Itamar Marani
And can you actually walk us through, like I said, what was the before? What is the right now?
00:01:20:05 - 00:02:01:09
Kevin Miller
Yeah. So I guess my before self is what I'll say. I wouldn't be caught dead in front of this microphone talking to you. I wouldn't have got up in front of a couple hundred of my closest peers to talk about where I was and where I am now. I was buying businesses, acquiring businesses that were on a growth trajectory and thinking that they would just sustain that growth without me doing anything.
00:02:01:11 - 00:02:12:12
Kevin Miller
That's where I was where I am today. Obviously, I'm in front of a microphone and I'm talking into probably 10 billion people.
00:02:12:14 - 00:02:37:15
Kevin Miller
I've been on stage talking to my closest peers, opening up about myself. I've taken a business recently, acquired just before the arena, a3x debt on trajectory to ten exit above the three X just in this year.
00:02:37:17 - 00:02:52:12
Itamar Marani
So that's it's big stuff and it's huge. Like on a personal level as well, like the before and after you kind of alluded to it, it was like I would never speak on the mic and I actually got to talk about that. That was it for me. That was a changing point. But the first level.
00:02:52:14 - 00:03:14:00
Kevin Miller
Yeah. So I'll even say, you know, when I started the arena, you know, we would go out and we would go through some exercises and we would, you know, share where we were at. I would almost try to hide under the desk because I did not want to talk like that is not that was not who I was.
00:03:14:02 - 00:03:38:16
Kevin Miller
You know, I, I didn't feel comfortable, you know, kind of stemming as we work through things stemming back to childhood, you know? Right. You know, in my early teenage years, things that happened then and now to the point where it's like I realized, you know, me talking to people, there are so many people that we're in the same boat as me, Right.
00:03:38:21 - 00:04:02:12
Kevin Miller
That don't feel comfortable or, you know, they said something stupid in the past and people razzed them for it. And that really made a mark and kind of you don't really think of it that way, but it really affects you later on in life. And you just think that, Oh, that's just who I am, that's just how it is, and that's not it.
00:04:02:13 - 00:04:23:06
Kevin Miller
And going through the arena, like, really opened my eyes to that. And now I'm like, I got to tell people, you know, it's, you know, talk about talk about what's going on in life. And, you know, just because you think that's just how it is, that's not it. That's not how it is, does it? That's not how it has to be.
00:04:23:08 - 00:04:26:20
Kevin Miller
Right. So, yeah.
00:04:26:22 - 00:04:43:10
Itamar Marani
So question for you on that, Do you think has I noticed a very significant change from week one into the arena, like the week five and second one, you were like, you would either be the last to go or I'd be like, Kevin, you need to go. Like before we finished up and week 5 to 6, you just, you were going first and.
00:04:43:14 - 00:04:46:14
Kevin Miller
All right. Yeah. What do you think? Didn't even get to that part. Yeah. It's like.
00:04:46:16 - 00:05:01:02
Itamar Marani
Well, what do you think about that change? Like what? Well, was it seeing the other people and recognizing, Oh, this is not my problem, This is the problem. So it's okay. Nothing's wrong with me. I wasn't going through that. So let me go. Or what was it for you that enabled that change? Because it was such a mess?
00:05:01:04 - 00:05:01:23
Kevin Miller
Yeah, it was the most.
00:05:01:23 - 00:05:04:16
Itamar Marani
Extreme stage I've seen. Like in all the arenas.
00:05:04:18 - 00:05:30:14
Kevin Miller
I've, you know, I really think that it came down to it's not just me, right? I'm not the only person facing these problems. Everybody else has their problems. Has problems. Yeah. And it's okay to talk about it. Even if you're the only person facing it, it's still okay. Like, if. If I get it out there, that's how I'm going to receive help.
00:05:30:16 - 00:05:55:15
Kevin Miller
If I sit there and cower in the corner, that's not helping me. It's not helping anybody else. Right. And if I want help, if I want change, I've got to speak up and ask for say, this is what I'm going through and then have other people just kind of give me some insight, you know, or that you're one of the other.
00:05:55:16 - 00:05:56:18
Itamar Marani
Can I ask your question around that?
00:05:56:18 - 00:05:58:04
Kevin Miller
Yeah. Yeah.
00:05:58:06 - 00:06:15:20
Itamar Marani
Because what was interesting is that you reached out to me, I think two years after we initially met, like you heard me do talked and Mexico, then two years afterwards. So what made you come to that realization all of a sudden that, okay, like I should speak up and the only thing is very true. What I would love to understand is what do you think caused that shift?
00:06:15:21 - 00:06:22:13
Itamar Marani
Because that could be very powerful for other people to say, Oh, I'm there, but this is what helped him bridge cross that bridge, so to speak.
00:06:22:15 - 00:06:32:12
Kevin Miller
That's a good point, because I think about that quite a bit. I'm like, Why did it take me so long from Mexico to actually reach out?
00:06:32:13 - 00:06:52:08
Itamar Marani
It was like Mexico took a long time to reach out. And then in a very short time, you went from being very like kind of, you know, reserved to just being the first one to go to directorships there. One that caused you to actually reach out and sign up and say, okay, like it's time, and to say, okay, I'm going to graduate from like, I don't need to be this protective of myself in writing.
00:06:52:09 - 00:06:59:02
Itamar Marani
Those were two big like shifts. And I want to understand why you think that. Why were you able to do those to make those changes?
00:06:59:04 - 00:07:44:04
Kevin Miller
And sometimes and I think that this is a lot of the changes in my life. It's not necessarily like a rock bottom, right, But it is you get to a point where you are so frustrated with the situation that you're in that you just got to go. Something needs to change, Right. And I think what started that, I don't I don't know the specific situation, but it was like I think it was Dan who went up on staging and goes, Hey, guys, I'm going to therapy and it's okay.
00:07:44:06 - 00:08:17:00
Kevin Miller
And after you said that, that also made it a little bit more comfortable for me to reach out and go, I need help, Right? It's what I'm doing. It's not serving me. I'm not making progress. Right. I can read all the self-help books, but I'm not implementing it. I'm not getting help. I'm not able to take, you know, you know, if it's some specific topics, sometimes it's hard for me to relate that to my life.
00:08:17:02 - 00:08:35:06
Kevin Miller
You know, that's really where I think it was like most of my changes have happened because of like a rock bottom or it's like, okay, for me to quit smoking. It was I started coughing so bad, I was like, This is terrible. I took a whole carton of Cigarets and flung it out the window going down the interstate.
00:08:35:06 - 00:08:49:04
Kevin Miller
And I was like, No more. I stopped cold turkey that day. Right? Same with a lot of things. But I think I just got to a point where I, I was like, I need help. What I'm doing is not working.
00:08:49:06 - 00:09:13:19
Itamar Marani
Yeah, I and I would love to dive deeper into that if you all I'm going to jump to for a second because what I've seen, what I've seen from a lot of people, there's people that there's a difference between people really not liking where they are and being very dissatisfied with it. And then that's one group and then the other group is the people that actually willing to do something about it because someone really dislikes where they are, it doesn't mean they're actually going to change to do something about it.
00:09:13:21 - 00:09:14:16
Kevin Miller
True.
00:09:14:18 - 00:09:26:13
Itamar Marani
So, like you were in that group, what made you think what made you shift with the permission that it's okay to do something about it? People like us, like down like a successful entrepreneur was like, I also, like, deal with fun stuff. Was that what it was?
00:09:26:15 - 00:09:53:08
Kevin Miller
I almost feel like it was, you know, because that became a really hot topic in a in a group that we're in. And hearing that was really like that permission to say, you know, it's okay, you know, because I'll say like earlier in life I went to therapy, you know, coming from having to go into rehab. Long story.
00:09:53:08 - 00:10:16:09
Kevin Miller
It's funny story, but I went to that kind of therapy and that did not sit well with me. I won't even say that this is not therapy. This is coaching. This is like really helping me move forward versus, you know, what you think of, like sitting on the couch and somebody talking to you that that just didn't sit well with me.
00:10:16:09 - 00:10:37:00
Kevin Miller
But to hear other people say that are very successful, go, it's okay. And I do it that just kind of like maybe a green light hit me. I don't know, kid. The more I think about it, I was that it.
00:10:37:02 - 00:10:50:22
Itamar Marani
Could have been given that you wanted to talk to me about it, but you felt shame about, okay, people like me, entrepreneurs and all that. We don't do that kind of stuff. And all of a sudden when someone who's very successful said, We do that kind of stuff, it was like, Oh, okay, I wanted to do this, but I've held with them.
00:10:50:22 - 00:10:52:05
Itamar Marani
Yeah.
00:10:52:06 - 00:11:17:18
Kevin Miller
Yeah, but it's like you also have like all this social media and everything going around and everybody portrays everything is fine, you know, I'm crushing it all the time. I'm making all this money. But you don't, you don't get to see the other 90% of that where it's tough, it's hard. You know, they're actually not doing that well.
00:11:17:18 - 00:11:41:06
Kevin Miller
It's an inflated number and you always feel like, God, I'm so far down the wrong path. There must be something wrong with me. Right? And there's something wrong with you. It's like just something like you just got to think about things different. Somebody's got to give you a different perspective, you know, really give you the hard truth right?
00:11:41:12 - 00:12:02:01
Kevin Miller
Yeah. Which is, you know, whenever we're talking your way to our permission to tell you something straight, you know, those are always whenever that is, it's all right. What are you about to tell me? Because I need to write this down. This is this is something that I need to hear. The other people aren't willing to tell me, you know?
00:12:02:03 - 00:12:15:03
Kevin Miller
And that's that was one of the reasons that that was that would that would have been another reason that I joined is like it's it's straight talk. It's what you need to hear.
00:12:15:05 - 00:12:46:07
Itamar Marani
So question about that, what's been very noticeable from my end is like how willing you are to keep venturing outside of your old comfort zone, whether it's through that, just like saying the straight truth or even at the elite event, just doing the Muay Thai, which was completely like a brand new thing to you. And then from there joining a kickboxing championship, going all in like, what do you think has enabled you to do that more and more and more and more to go out of because you really think you've changed from this old version of Kevin to this new version of Kevin.
00:12:46:09 - 00:12:53:01
Itamar Marani
So what do you think has enabled you to step out of the old version of Kevin, even though it was familiar, comfortable, whatever it may be?
00:12:53:03 - 00:13:28:12
Kevin Miller
I almost feel like it was the work that we did in the arena, right? Okay. Me going through or not necessarily, it wasn't like a topic that we hit, but it was something that I started noticing where a I probably feel inadequate to do whatever it is we tie, but also having like I don't have these like stupid negative thoughts in my head, kind of like, okay, take for instance, CrossFit, right?
00:13:28:14 - 00:13:49:14
Kevin Miller
Everybody's favorite pastime by and I don't even know why I did this. I would just be like, Oh, it's a bunch of meat heads, right? All they want to do is sit around, eat bacon and lift weights or whatever and do some shit for like 60 minutes. I don't know. Right. And I just I had this thought in my head and that's it.
00:13:49:16 - 00:14:15:06
Kevin Miller
But then, like, where I get to the point where it's like, Kevin, you need to like, actually be open and listen to what other people have to say. And, you know, it's and why they do certain things and do different experiences. Just because just what you think you see on the outside is not necessarily how it is. And you go into the CrossFit gym and you're like, these are the nicest people in the world.
00:14:15:08 - 00:14:34:23
Kevin Miller
I want to hug them every time I walk into the gym. It's just a great place and, you know, yeah, I don't know, man. It's, you know, right there, along with road rage, it's like to see things I picked up. It's like I always. I get mad when somebody cut me off. It's like maybe they didn't see me.
00:14:34:23 - 00:14:51:02
Kevin Miller
Maybe they had a kid crying. Maybe, you know, somebody that they love is in the hospital and they're just trying to get the hospital. You don't know what their situation is and like to get worked up to raise my own blood pressure to do all that. That's not where I want to be.
00:14:51:04 - 00:14:52:01
Itamar Marani
A service this.
00:14:52:01 - 00:15:15:03
Kevin Miller
And then realizing how much it's affecting everybody around me to be like that was a huge game changer to see how it was affecting my girlfriend. Like, that's just that was like almost heartbreaking when I sat down to think about it and I was just like, What am I doing? This is not who I want to be to her or to anybody else, my friend.
00:15:15:05 - 00:15:26:15
Kevin Miller
This is crazy. Like, it just was the way that I was carrying myself, the way that I would see jump to conclusions, whatever. I really didn't answer your question.
00:15:26:17 - 00:15:27:23
Itamar Marani
No, it did. It did in a very.
00:15:27:23 - 00:15:28:11
Kevin Miller
Interesting like.
00:15:28:12 - 00:15:47:03
Itamar Marani
Okay, yeah. So I'll say this first off, you had a big motive of who am I and how am I showing up for the people that I care about? Yeah, but what's really interesting is that most people, when they step outside their comfort zone, it's a decision of like, I want to just be tougher or whatever it may be or I want to be a better version of myself.
00:15:47:05 - 00:16:07:10
Itamar Marani
And you're saying what actually helped you step outside your comfort zone was reassessing why some of those things that are outside of it seemed discomfort seem uncomfortable. Sorry, like the CrossFit? Oh, I thought they'd be very uncomfortable. And I thought these guys, I don't know I you assume all bacon like I can assume that they had things in his hand to make them feel.
00:16:07:12 - 00:16:11:12
Kevin Miller
But I just I think I was going like down the Quito route or.
00:16:11:16 - 00:16:11:21
Itamar Marani
You know.
00:16:12:00 - 00:16:17:17
Kevin Miller
Whatever. That's it. Yeah. Just like this is just a bunch of bacon eaters.
00:16:17:18 - 00:16:36:02
Itamar Marani
But I think that's the really interesting thing, that that's something I've never really heard before, that the reason you were able to step outside of your comfort zone wasn't because you said, okay, I'm going to better myself and I'm going to do things that are uncomfortable because I recognize part of growth. This is a more usual route. But instead you challenged some of your assumptions of why certain things are uncomfortable.
00:16:36:04 - 00:16:52:08
Itamar Marani
For example, getting help, for example, going on stage, for example, going to CrossFit, for example, the roadway. And once you were able to challenge those things, they weren't uncomfortable anymore. You basically just grew your comfort zone, which is really pretty well.
00:16:52:10 - 00:17:15:06
Kevin Miller
See, it's this type of insight because this is not how my mind works, right? It's, you know, if I say something or, you know, whatever it is and just working with you tomorrow is like, I literally would just want to have it in our air, on my shoulder to my.
00:17:15:08 - 00:17:18:18
Itamar Marani
I try to build that, by the way. We're going to build it.
00:17:18:20 - 00:17:33:18
Kevin Miller
So it's just it's so insightful to hear, to have the other perspective right. And to kind of help me think along the lines of why am I doing something, you know? So, yeah.
00:17:33:20 - 00:17:53:19
Itamar Marani
So do you want to ask about that? Because what I've seen with all this stuff, like they're all, let's call it tactics that moved you a long place from being an underperformer to high performer now. But is there had to be like some kind of internal drive within you that said I want to use I want to make this change.
00:17:53:21 - 00:18:10:11
Itamar Marani
What do you think that is? Because again, it's the transformation that you went from week one and two, you're shying away from the questions. So week five and six, when you had your hand is up first, it was the most dramatic change I've ever seen. I think the fact that even now they're like, you're not like you just keep making jokes all the time.
00:18:10:13 - 00:18:25:18
Itamar Marani
You're at the center of it, which is great. You had a lot of color to it, like it was such it was never something I would have assumed that you had this giant sense of humor and is like phenomenal personality when I met you in Mexico. But there was something in you that kind of wanted to have that growth.
00:18:25:19 - 00:18:27:14
Itamar Marani
What do you think that was?
00:18:27:16 - 00:18:53:05
Kevin Miller
I kind of keep going back to what I was doing was not serving me right away. I was not selling in business. Maybe sometimes, you know, some of my accomplishments in life were really lucky right now, investing in Bitcoin really early. And so now you feel like you're the frickin man because you you did really well with that.
00:18:53:05 - 00:19:30:17
Kevin Miller
But it was an educated guess to do, and I don't think that that served me very well. Yeah, just wanting to be a better person. And I just knew what I was doing was not doing it right. Yeah. And I didn't know how to, how to make that change or like where to even start because it's like, Oh no, I literally if I try, you go down the YouTube rabbit hole of all the, like self-help motivation and the motivation shit will pump you up and you still won't do it, right?
00:19:30:17 - 00:19:38:07
Kevin Miller
It takes, it takes a it, it takes something different. Yeah. So that for.
00:19:38:07 - 00:19:46:06
Itamar Marani
You, what was that different thing for you that actually enabled you to take action? That wasn't the motivation. So what do you think it was?
00:19:46:08 - 00:20:10:18
Kevin Miller
Yeah, just I keep going back to what I was doing. Wasn't serving me right and what I was. I needed to try something different. I needed to do something different. And the approach that you were offering was not what everybody else was doing. So I was like, Let me try this, you know, because I don't know what else to do.
00:20:10:23 - 00:20:39:03
Kevin Miller
I don't know where else to go. And I wasn't the person to go and post about it in a forum or, you know, whatever, ask for help out loud. I was like, let me let me try this, because this is a I've seen results and other people had gotten results. And then it came down to the work that we did right in the arena, asking a lot of questions.
00:20:39:05 - 00:20:47:17
Itamar Marani
There before we got to the work, because I'm really curious about it was Yeah, yeah. Because I remember you saying like, you never made such a big investment yourself before and you were like, What the.
00:20:47:17 - 00:20:55:06
Kevin Miller
Hell about it? Yeah, They came up in a call the other night. It's like they saw the number and you're like, Oh shit.
00:20:55:08 - 00:21:13:21
Itamar Marani
Yeah. I think. What made you say, okay, it is expensive, but you were like, Okay, but I'm still going to do it again. What I notice in you that what I respect so much and why I sort of invited you to that lead after the arena was like it's he recognized that something could be challenging, but he said, okay, I'm going to do it anyway because I know it's the right thing for.
00:21:13:23 - 00:21:32:07
Itamar Marani
And I think that's such a unique trade and that's a valuable one. Man There's something I really respect about, like how you went from 1 to 2 to not like being friends. I think, you know, this actually good for me to be front and center. So we did that even though it was uncomfortable. What do you think is allowed you to push past that like, discomfort barrier when you say, okay, no, this is what I need to do.
00:21:32:09 - 00:21:43:22
Itamar Marani
But again, some people know they need to do it. They know they're in a bad place right now, but that's different than them actually doing something about it and you actually did something about it. So what do you think? Enable that even just from like the signing up to that read?
00:21:44:00 - 00:21:47:04
Kevin Miller
Yeah, that's such a good question and I like.
00:21:47:06 - 00:21:48:23
Itamar Marani
That the important.
00:21:49:01 - 00:22:16:05
Kevin Miller
Yeah. No it is at I'm just trying to think through of like in that time man I've made so much progress since those days. It's like so hard to even think about myself, you know, presenting myself the way that I was, you know, that's what I buy. Wow. What? What was it that was just like, Go for it.
00:22:16:06 - 00:22:32:06
Itamar Marani
What do you think? Enable this. So let's fast forward to today. What about when we went to the Muay Thai for the first time in the lead event? That was in November. Then you went back home and you really signed up to kickboxing. So what made you think in that moment said, okay, let's just do it, Let's just go for what was that?
00:22:32:08 - 00:22:58:15
Kevin Miller
I kind of like go back to an adjective. Like the things that are good for you don't taste good, right? I kind of like I default to that because it's like it's hard, it's tough. And could I be sitting on the couch watching videos? Could I be surfing the Internet? Yes, that's that's the easy stuff. That's what everybody else does.
00:22:58:17 - 00:23:20:03
Kevin Miller
Right. What do the winners do? Right. Well, get out there. They'll sweat it out. They'll do the right thing. Don't you know when it doesn't taste good? Sometimes you just got to take the medicine type of approach. And that's how I'm going to grow, right? When everybody else stops, when it gets hard. If you're the one that keeps going, you're going to be the winner, right?
00:23:20:08 - 00:23:41:20
Kevin Miller
You're going to come out on top, right? Because, yeah, everybody stops when it gets hard. And I almost kind of think that that's maybe what pushed me over the edge was like, it's hard, it's expensive. Is it going to, you know, put a dent in my finances at that? You know, at that point when when I started. Yes.
00:23:41:22 - 00:23:52:07
Kevin Miller
But that's what that's what winners are doing, right? That's the people there succeeding or doing the stuff. And like, that's who I want to be with. Yeah, that's all I.
00:23:52:07 - 00:24:07:02
Itamar Marani
Want to run with. Yeah, that's the goal then, because like I wrote that down exactly where you were talking. Like, I think that was it. You just have this kind of like decision yourself. You would ask yourself, what would winners do? Instead of asking what is comfortable for me or What would I like to do? Instead of bold winners do?
00:24:07:02 - 00:24:21:11
Itamar Marani
And then let me just do that, even though it's uncomfortable, one way you do that is by just like stepping out of your comfort zone and going out of it in other ways by understanding how you can expand your comfort zone by falsifying a lot of your assumptions about why certain things are uncomfortable, like the making people.
00:24:21:12 - 00:24:22:18
Kevin Miller
Or.
00:24:22:19 - 00:24:23:16
Itamar Marani
Whatever it may be.
00:24:23:17 - 00:24:26:00
Kevin Miller
Forever be known as the bacon people.
00:24:26:00 - 00:24:45:12
Itamar Marani
The bigger people. But I think it's such a powerful framework. Like when I assess you from the side, what it is is that you first have like a guiding north and self. What would winners? And then you say, okay, I know I need to go in that direction. However, that direction is still very uncomfortable. So first off, I recognize there's going to be some discomfort because most people are going to stop there.
00:24:45:12 - 00:25:07:12
Itamar Marani
I'm not going to be. That's number one. But number two, how can I make the place where I need to get to less uncomfortable by, first off, assessing if a lot of my assumptions are real or their fault their true or false taste. Yeah. Like, is this really as bad as I thought it would be? Are people is going to be as negative or intimidated or whatever maybe is stepping on stage, You're going to have such a negative.
00:25:07:14 - 00:25:20:03
Itamar Marani
And by being able to kind of falsifies of assumptions and having honestly like the courage to look at them in the face and ask, is this true or not? Instead of saying, Oh, this feels bad, I'm going to shy away from it, you're able to actually grow your comfort zone so you can achieve more.
00:25:20:04 - 00:25:36:08
Kevin Miller
So yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. When I stepped into that kickboxing gym, the first thing I said was like, All right, I'm telling you to this. I want to learn kickboxing. I don't want to spar.
00:25:36:10 - 00:25:37:18
Itamar Marani
In the first lesson, right?
00:25:37:22 - 00:26:04:05
Kevin Miller
For the second week. Yeah. They're like, Hey, man, we're going to a sparring session. Good Lord, I was shaking so bad, but I was like, you know, I've got to feel like I got to know what likes to take a hit, right? Yeah. That's the only way that I'm going to get better. Like, I can. I can do all the moves, but you need to understand what it looks like to get hit, because then you understand why you're doing this right.
00:26:04:07 - 00:26:22:00
Itamar Marani
I think beyond that, it's also the recognition that you recognize that you can take a hit, having that self confidence that you can take the hit. And this is a great analogy for life, business, everything. I think most people, they don't venture beyond their comfort zone because they're afraid. Like, what happens if I take a hit? What happens if it's a bit hard?
00:26:22:01 - 00:26:32:08
Itamar Marani
But accruing that kind of evidence that I can take those hits, whether it's in Muay Thai business, growth, relationships, whatever it may be, that allows you to keep pushing the envelope.
00:26:32:10 - 00:27:01:17
Kevin Miller
Yeah, that's. That's you getting okay with failure, right? Yeah. Failing is not you know, it's not failing is not Failure is how it goes. Failing is not failure. Yeah. You just need to learn from your your fails, right. Yeah. And then adjust. It's definitely what we get harped on that a lot and it's still something. It's like, you know, any time you take a new endeavor, it's.
00:27:01:19 - 00:27:22:02
Kevin Miller
It's scary. And I have to think back to it's okay to fail. Just learn from the failure. Move on. Right? You're not on the world stage. You're not filming in front of everybody. You're probably found in front of three people. And that's the way people are want you to fail because they want you to get better. And that's okay.
00:27:22:04 - 00:27:24:12
Itamar Marani
So they're rooting for you because you're doing the right thing.
00:27:24:14 - 00:27:33:06
Kevin Miller
Yes. Yes. They want to see you succeed. They want to see you progress. I won't even say succeed. They want to see progress. Right?
00:27:33:06 - 00:27:59:22
Itamar Marani
Mary Wollstonecraft? So the way I looked at always from like my background in jujitsu and what I learned from that is that I can go to a sparring session and I can play very conservative against someone who was a higher belt to me at the time when I was the Blue belt or whatever, and maybe they won't tap me because I'm just kind of stalling out or I can really go all out and I get tapped twice, three times during the role, whatever it may be.
00:28:00:00 - 00:28:18:22
Itamar Marani
But what actually happened here? They were able to help me expose flaws in my technique faster. So I actually grew a lot more by not being conservative. I flaws in my technique exposed. I'm not a failure. I'm not a bad person. It was kind of an external idea. This is my technique. This is currently my business acumen. Whatever it is, it's not about me and my self-worth.
00:28:19:00 - 00:28:32:04
Itamar Marani
I'm just helping somebody, whether it's business models or like the economics marketplace or engines or just another person to help expose certain flaws in my technique, whether it's business, jujitsu, whatever it might be. And that's the way I like to look at it.
00:28:32:06 - 00:28:36:07
Kevin Miller
Yeah, No, it's it's a good way to put it. Yeah.
00:28:36:09 - 00:28:55:01
Itamar Marani
I mean, is there I think that was like honestly the biggest goal here. That could be for everybody that like you. First off, you just decided like, what are winners do I'm going to do that. Then you said, okay, how can I challenge what's uncomfortable? Is it actually uncomfortable or not challenging my assumptions? Are there any other like big forums or big lessons that you think enable these?
00:28:55:01 - 00:29:12:15
Itamar Marani
Have this changed both in the business with drawing a lot and also with your personal life? And two thirds of like with your physical health? Because I remember that conference and you spoke, the first interaction I had with I don't know if Jodi and Ben Cook, they're for anyone listening, the mutual friend of ours, and they're both extremely, extremely fat.
00:29:12:16 - 00:29:22:23
Itamar Marani
She actually represents great bread and powerlifting. Dude, what happened to Kevin? He said he was everything is so much like leaner. He's in such better shape. And those are people that know what you're talking about.
00:29:23:01 - 00:29:25:01
Kevin Miller
Yeah. Like, yeah, yeah.
00:29:25:03 - 00:29:35:05
Itamar Marani
Yeah. What do you think? Were there any other forums, any other big things you say? If someone's in that situation, if he focuses on this, this could be a really big impact, I think for him or for her.
00:29:35:07 - 00:30:15:08
Kevin Miller
I'll go back to what I was saying before about seeing how I was affecting other people, like really sitting down with that, right? A my health. I want to be around for my family, my girlfriend, my friends. I want to be the person that is able to help out. Right. And me being overweight, exercising, you know, being the couch potato kind of person that was not serving what I actually wanted out of life.
00:30:15:10 - 00:30:32:05
Kevin Miller
And I had never sat down with that before. Okay? I just live life cruising by, you know, just easy go in a sometimes by the seat of my pants, sometimes with, like, a half assed idea.
00:30:32:07 - 00:30:37:12
Itamar Marani
Yeah, there's one thing I noticed from the outside that I think was very impactful that we didn't really mention.
00:30:37:14 - 00:30:38:12
Kevin Miller
Okay.
00:30:38:13 - 00:31:00:15
Itamar Marani
The power of environment. So where you are in the world, like it's a beautiful place, you know, nature and all that kind of jazz. But there's not a lot of people that you had around on a day to day basis that yes, inspired you to be a better version of yourself. So the kind of, you know, the average of the five people around the five gyms there, and I think that was one that was really big for my character.
00:31:00:15 - 00:31:01:21
Itamar Marani
No.
00:31:01:23 - 00:31:33:22
Kevin Miller
Yeah, I mean, when you surround yourself with winners, do you tend to gravitate towards that? I mean, it helps when you have other people in the arena that are ripped as hell. Huge bodybuilders. So make you all right, man. But yeah, it's a this is a you know, I lived in an RV for six or seven years traveling the U.S., Mexico, Canada, So it was friends on and off.
00:31:33:22 - 00:32:01:13
Kevin Miller
But really it was just me and more living. Then I settle down into a town. I don't have very many friends. Right? It's all brand new to me. So that was a total change. I really didn't have anybody except for like online friends. And, you know, we're not it's just like texting back and forth.
00:32:01:15 - 00:32:05:06
Itamar Marani
Yeah. Stopping and going into the exact.
00:32:05:08 - 00:32:32:06
Kevin Miller
Right is actually a very surface level if that. Right. Yeah. Sometimes not even touching the surface where now I went in with a group of people that I want to make a change for the better. They want to see themselves better. They want to see me better. I want to see them better. Like that. Rising tides theory, right?
00:32:32:08 - 00:32:50:18
Kevin Miller
Raises all ships where all their to just the better right to be winners too. It's really, you know Chris each other alone now due to other along in it going in the right direction if we get veered off.
00:32:50:20 - 00:33:11:15
Itamar Marani
From the big stuff. So kind of like to summarize our conversation what I saw like and it's all like a couple step process me like where you see flaws here or like what I'm missing. Okay, so first off, does that recognition like, okay, I'm not a weak individual If I want help, that's perfectly valid. Even successful entrepreneurs, very successful journeys do that.
00:33:11:20 - 00:33:39:15
Itamar Marani
So that's okay. Oh yeah. Then thinking, okay, like who am I actually to other people. Other people that I care about. How am I affecting those other people without or may not? Okay, I'm inside. Okay. If I'm not okay with that, who do I want to be exact. Like I want to be the person who can help out then saying, okay, like when I'm faced with a decision that's very uncomfortable, I just simply ask myself, what do winners do not I usually reveal, okay, this is the path you should take.
00:33:39:15 - 00:34:10:18
Itamar Marani
Even though it's uncomfortable. Now, on top of learning that some things are going to be uncomfortable, you've kind of grown eurozone, not by just saying I'm going to be tougher, I'm going to get more. That's interesting. By not trying to add motivated like how you said the YouTube motivation stuff didn't work. Yeah, but not by trying to motivate and be tougher, but actually saying, how can I grow my growth zone by expanding and not trying to step outside of it to the very edge of my discomfort zone or my gross on whatever it is, but saying, how can I challenge some of the stuff here so it doesn't actually feel uncomfortable?
00:34:10:19 - 00:34:31:05
Itamar Marani
Can I ascetic and I reassess what I think about the bacon people or what I think about Muay Thai or how people engage just driving on the road or with business or putting myself out there and by basically reassessing your world views on these things. A lot of the things that I feel that felt very daunting. Oh, actually, there's nothing big here.
00:34:31:08 - 00:34:53:06
Itamar Marani
This is all right. And then finally, to kind of lock that in its to put yourself in an environment where the baseline is just much higher, like the bare minimum of how to conduct yourself is much higher than before in both. In a way, we're like, you want to change, but also the people are rooting for. Yeah, like it's not that anyone is like people are like, dude, you got to like, come lift up with us.
00:34:53:08 - 00:35:00:07
Itamar Marani
No one's trying to hold you down. But the opposite when you want to see each other with, Yeah, did I miss anything there or that.
00:35:00:09 - 00:35:07:00
Kevin Miller
That was it. I think you could probably trademark and patent that those steps and.
00:35:07:01 - 00:35:08:09
Itamar Marani
As a Kevin system.
00:35:08:11 - 00:35:43:09
Kevin Miller
Yeah the Kevin system. So yeah No that was perfect. Yeah. Yeah. One thing that made me think of when you're saying that is, I think about the random actions, right? And the things that I was doing or saying and realizing and not realizing how it affects other people, whether it's even if you're trying, you think you're doing a nice gesture and then realizing that it's not the right thing to do.
00:35:43:15 - 00:36:06:19
Kevin Miller
You know where I thought it was funny. I'll just give the example right? I have what I call emergency chocolate. You go to the grocery store. Laura loves chocolate, and so I have emergency chocolate just in case she runs out. So I buy it, but not realizing that that was not helping her health in any way, shape or form.
00:36:06:21 - 00:36:41:04
Kevin Miller
Right. Because I would always buy that really, really shitty candy. It should be chocolate. But it took sitting down and like evaluating like how I conduct myself and actually sitting down with it with my girlfriend and asking her, you know, and then to hear it come back and slap you in the face at that A I'll take you down a couple notches to make you reevaluate the way that, the way that you do things.
00:36:41:06 - 00:36:42:17
Kevin Miller
Yeah, Yeah. Anyway.
00:36:42:19 - 00:37:00:02
Itamar Marani
It's a big one though. So you're saying there's also kind of a hidden step there of recalibrating and being more intentional about how what you do, how that serves your ultimate goals and not just kind of like how you said earlier, flying by the seat of your pants. Yeah, I'd like to be like that point where you said, What do winners do?
00:37:00:08 - 00:37:06:03
Itamar Marani
That's what winners do. They don't just go about life casually or randomly and hoping for great results.
00:37:06:05 - 00:37:06:20
Kevin Miller
Right?
00:37:06:22 - 00:37:21:08
Itamar Marani
And I think that was the stuff that I missed I just put in that's really, really impactful because I remember that and I think that was a big thing. I decided I'm going to be a winner. Okay? So I need to be intentional about what what a winner do and all fronts in the business front. Like it's I'm just hoping it'll grow somehow magically.
00:37:21:10 - 00:37:29:15
Itamar Marani
I can actually with effort and do the right things right on the health front same thing, relationship front, the same thing. So I think that's a really great addition.
00:37:29:17 - 00:37:34:04
Kevin Miller
You know, again revised edition to V2.
00:37:34:06 - 00:37:44:13
Itamar Marani
Yeah but I any last thing before we go to and I think this was this was really great I can see you helping so many people. Is there any last things you want to say or anything you want to mention?
00:37:44:15 - 00:38:16:01
Kevin Miller
Man Really, if the only thing I'll say is like, if you feel if anybody ever feels like this is possibly going to help them, so just reach out and have the conversation like nobody is going to judge you. I just always felt like I was going to be judged right. And all it is is a question and a conversation that can change your life so quick.
00:38:16:03 - 00:38:41:07
Kevin Miller
So yeah, I just say like I was scared out of my mind. I was intimidated, all of that stuff. It's if you really want to make the change, man, that's all it takes was like, I appreciate everything you do for us for me, Like, it's it's life changing.
00:38:41:09 - 00:39:05:07
Itamar Marani
I want to say on a personal level, I do. I appreciate. I respect you so much. I the change that you've made from where you started to where you are now, like forget about the external stuff, the business, all that. It's phenomenal. It's great. Super happy for you. But the level of to say comic and see you and kind of like self-assuredness, that's amazing that I think what you've accomplished is a really big deal and I hope you give yourself credit for that.
00:39:05:09 - 00:39:10:10
Itamar Marani
And also, like I say, I just love having you in the group, but your sense of humor is also.
00:39:10:12 - 00:39:15:12
Kevin Miller
I didn't let it fly on this. Maybe you didn't have my back and I can be funny.
00:39:15:14 - 00:39:20:19
Itamar Marani
But next I see shit.
00:39:20:21 - 00:39:43:04
Kevin Miller
I forgot what I was going to say. It's sometimes I don't give myself credit and sometimes I just have to hear it from other people. So, hey, thank you. You know, And then, you know, and your partner and your friends and your family are like, you are a different person. And we're like, this person. That's awesome. That's it.
00:39:43:06 - 00:39:52:19
Itamar Marani
Yeah. Yeah. Well, I think that's a great place to close it out. Kevin, thank you again for coming on. I appreciate it. Hope you guys got out of this and we will see you on the next episode.
